Never bring them down
by kimicatdemon
Summary: Lotus learns that a hero can be a deadly thing when brought down to his level.


I am going to clear up something about the whole Lotus being a girl in KMS thing. Lotus sounds like a girl in KMS because Lotus and Orchid share the same body. They are, however, NOT TWINS. They are two halves of the same being, with Orchid being the girl and Lotus being the boy. This is why Orchid sounds a tad male in her KMS VA and Lotus sounds like a girl.

The air was rather quiet for the chaos running about. A few of the heroes had shown up to face the black mage "once and for all", with him kindly letting them in.

Lotus thought this was a rather odd move. Especially with Demon Slayer's recent betrayal. But then, an idea flings upon his head. "_Perhaps it was nothing more than a warm up." _He told himself. He must have been fine afterwards. The Black mage was not so foolish as to lead a couple of heroes his way while being injured.

He thought of his other half and her location. "She's probably loafing round, as usual." He sighed, "Honestly, that girl… The other heroes could show up at any moment and she just goes to hang out. I suppose there isn't much to worry over though. They couldn't possibly defeat him."

Yes… this was a role he could take pride in. A job that he could deal with. He could deal with anything so long as his other half was near, and he knew that as long as the two of them remained undoubtedly loyal, there would be no harm.

He calmly walked around, trying to find his other half. Maybe she would be around here or there… He was in no rush. If a hero confronted him, he would easily escort them to the mage or face them down. With all the defenses in the temple, there was no way a hero could get through without being weakened.

Or… so he thought. A card flung right by him, giving him a nice scratch on the cheek. "Hmm?" Lotus felt his face and looked at the blood on his hand. He looked down at the card and chuckled, "You know, you could have just said hello." He turned around and faced the card's owner.

He was a man of class. You couldn't find a place on his outfit where there was no accessory or gem. His hat alone was a piece of work, with the cloth and mask attached together. Upon further inspection, Lotus noted that Phantom's expression was oddly calm. He did not seem mad, or happy… there wasn't a drop of sadness either, it was only a calm expression, like a lake that's surface was a natural mirror.

"So, I suppose you're here to help your allies…" Lotus started, "But the Black mage as already taken them in. You'll just have to wait your turn…" he cracked a sinister smile, "Unless you want me to pull a string or two? I could always get you in there…"

The man stepped forward, "No… that won't be necessary." He spoke. His expression softened a bit into a very eerie smile. "You see… I may be a hero now, but, business is a priority with me."

Lotus stood up straight and gave Phantom a very odd look. "Business? What business could you possibly have to do at this point? It's all or nothing right now… Phantom"

Phantom chuckled a bit, "You see," he started to step forward in Lotus's direction, "I am not like the other heroes. I've broken the rules before. I've done a few shameful things. I'll even confess that I may have manipulated them once or twice for information. It's not beyond me to stoop to something akin to your level."

Lotus's face curled a bit, "What are you saying? I don't get you…" he felt his heart rush and body tense up. Something was not right. Was it that odd smile Phantom was giving off? Was it his words?

"What am I saying? Don't be ridiculous, it should be obvious." Phantom twirled his cane around his wrist before grasping it lightly. His smile remained unchanged.

Lotus looked at his cane. Was this man about to fight him? "So you want to fight?" Lotus said and eagerly prepared himself, "Well, you could have just said so…"

Phantom smile went from eerie to a friendly kind smile, something that gave Lotus the creeps. Why was this man constantly smiling at him? "Boy, this isn't about a simple fight…" he said before casting a quick movement with his cane that sent Lotus flying back into a wall.

"Guh…." Lotus fell on the ground. He slowly tried to get back on his feet, but while he tried to lift himself up, he felt a strong foot slam him on the ground. The foot planted him on the ground, as if they were trying to crush his back with their foot.

"No, no!" Phantom said in a rather strange tone, "A fight? No, that won't do at all… Not for her…" he spoke calmly. He picked up Lotus by his hair and looked him dead in the eyes with a look of rage, "This is revenge."

Lotus's eyes widened a bit. The look in Phantom's eyes were terrifying. Was this really a hero? No… this one seemed to be something more akin to a monster of some sort. He was fighting a monster in human form. He threw his hand across Phantom's face and managed to escape.

Phantom calmly rubbed his red cheek where the hit had landed. He looked back at Lotus, now on his feet and giving slight gasp for air. "Heh." He's face turned into a distorted smile. It was a cold smile that sent chills down Lotus's spine. "Well, I suppose letting you run a bit longer wouldn't hurt…"

Lotus's eyes glared at Phantom as he sent a wave of energy swiftly. Phantom twirled his cane and easily deflected the magic. Once the magic attack finished, he quickly jumped up and sent a barrage of card flying towards Lotus. Lotus quickly dodged majority of the attack, but the final sweep caught him off balance and threw him off. "_Guh? What's with this?" _Lotus thought to himself and he jumped up quickly.

Upon rising, he saw Phantom in front of him directly. Creating a barrier quickly, Lotus managed to save himself from a barrage of attacks from his deadly cane. To buy him some more time, he made a shock wave that send Phantom back, but he was quick to catch his feet.

Lotus looked at Phantom. It was hard on him personally. He was the one shaking and feeling a bit worn out already. Phantom in front of him had the same calm face he had walked in with. Had he even done anything yet? Phantom had a bit of a forming bruise on his face, but beyond that, there was nothing.

Giving a calm smile, Phantom noted this out loud, "Are you tired? Feeling weak perhaps? I wouldn't over do anything if I were you…" he said in an almost monotone voice.

Lotus shivered. He was clearly on a losing end and he couldn't place why! He had faced the heroes before, but never like this… He needed a way to throw him off. He was far too calm. "Tch… So you're this mad, eh? Can't stand life without your pretty little girl?"

Within an instant, Lotus felt himself on the ground, looking dead at Phantom. The mask of his hat his eyes from lotus, but his voice gave everything away. "….What the hell makes you think you have ANY right to talk about her that way?" His grip tightened around his neck, "You think just because you killed her means you can easily talk about her all you want?"

Lotus gasped a bit, trying to wring free of his grasp. His vision was getting blurry and he could feel his body stiffening.

"It's not enough to simply kill you…" Phantom said. "No… the best treatment for you is to watch you suffer… Then I'll turn right around and make your other half suffer even more."

Lotus's eyes jumped at the thought of that. He managed to work the force up to kick Phantom off of him. He forced himself up quickly, coughing and gasping for air. " Ahh…. You can…do your worst…. To me…." He started up, "but so help me…. If you lay one hand on her…."

Phantom raised a brow, "Hmmm? You're only now thinking about this?"

Lotus flinched a bit. His face turned to anger instantly, "Don't you dare compare Orchid to your weak lover. She's far more of a fighter than that cowardly empress would have ever been!"

At this point, it was hard to say who was in more of a state of anger. Lotus lashed magic out in large sums, only to have Phantom deflect it and charge straight at him. The two of them continued to fight on and on, with no end in sight. No more remarks were made, it was simply the two of them at each other's necks, wanting the other one dead.

Then suddenly, with a crashing force, it happened. Phantom had managed to drive the magic user to his limit, and took advantage of it. He sent a fury of cards straight into his body and watched him as he fell.

"D-Damn…" Lotus spoke quietly as he fell on the floor. He realized he was unable to move. He had used so much magic that its toll was too great. He then began to feel something vaguely wet surround him. "_What is this?" _He thought to himself, "_Blood?"_

Phantom stood over the body. He was surely going to die, but Phantom was not going to take any risk. He was going to finish this half once and for all. For this, he would need something greater than a card. With a twirl of his cane, it became a small sword. Easy and light, but just sharp enough to kill someone with little force. "Don't worry, I may decide to just let your other half live through what I live through every day. So you don't have to worry about her dying…" He said. He lifted the sword up and let a dark smile curl on his face…

Another magic showed up, right at Phantom's feet. He jumped and reverted his cane back to normal.

"Lotus!" A loud scream cried. Orchid ran up in the room and kneeled at Lotus's side. "Lotus! Lotus! Answer me!"

Phantom watched calmly in the distance, not taking a single step forward.

Lotus opened his eyes a small bit and looked at Orchid, "Heh… and here I thought you were taking a nap…" he spoke weakly.

"No, No I wasn't! Why would I sleep on such a day?" Orchid spoke worried. "Please, don't worry, you're going to be okay, I promise! Just… please… hang on!" She looked up at Phantom and gave her other half a strong embrace. "How… How could you?"

Phantom's look did not change. He simply stared at her, wanting to see if she would attack or flee.

"You'll pay for this… I'll make sure the Black mage leaves you alive, just so I can TEAR YOU APART!" She yelled before teleporting out of the room.

Phantom waited a bit before relaxing a bit and taking a sigh, "Ahh... women and their tempers. Always getting the better of them." He shook his head. He touched his face and felt a rather sore pain, "Ow! Hey!" He quickly grabbed a mirror he had in his pocket and looked at his face, "Awww, you've got to be kidding me! He gave a bruise right on my faaacce, I can't cover thaaatt!" he took a sigh and put the mirror away. "I guess those 'saving the world' pictures will have to wait…."

He looked at the area and saw the damage. The room, once organized, was a disaster over all. Rubble was all over the place and the walls had various sizes of holes in them. With a rather serious look on his face he started to walk out, "Maybe next time I'll have luck…" he said with a strange sort of optimism. "I suppose they're waiting for 'Phantom the hero' to show up. I better get going or Aran isn't going to be happy." He said before teleporting away from the room, leaving only the damage as proof that anyone had been there at all.


End file.
